Automated detection of vehicle parking and location

1. A method comprising: determining, by a mobile computing device and based on first motion data generated by a motion sensor of the mobile computing device, that a user associated with the mobile computing device is riding in the vehicle; determining, by a mobile computing device based on second motion data generated by the motion sensor of the mobile computing device, that a change in an angle of the mobile computing device relative to gravity satisfies a threshold amount of change; responsive to determining that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change: initiating, at a first position of the mobile computing device, storage of third motion data generated by the motion sensor, wherein the first position is a reference position; and determining, by the mobile computing device and based on the third motion data, that the user of the mobile computing device is traveling on foot, wherein the reference position corresponds to a location at which the user exited the vehicle; receiving, by the mobile computing device, an external signal; determining, by the mobile computing device and based on the external signal, a second position of the mobile computing device, wherein the second position is a current position of the mobile computing device that is different from the reference position; responsive to determining the second position of the mobile computing device: determining, by the mobile computing device, based on the third motion data and the current position, the reference position of the mobile computing device; and storing, by the mobile computing device, an indication of the reference position as the location at which the user exited the vehicle; retrieving, by the mobile computing device, a position history of the mobile computing device, the position history including a plurality of previously determined reference positions of the mobile computing device, wherein the reference position of the mobile computing device is included in the plurality of previously determined reference positions; determining, by the mobile computing device, a subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions, wherein each determined reference position from the subset is located within a threshold distance from an updated current position of the mobile computing device; and outputting, by the mobile computing device and for display, a graphical indication of one or more of the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining, by the mobile computing device, a current heading of the mobile computing device, wherein determining the position of the mobile computing device at which the mobile computing device initiated storage of the third motion data comprises: determining, by the mobile computing device and based on the third motion data, a path of the mobile computing device by at least analyzing the third motion data relative to the current position of the mobile computing device and the current heading of the mobile computing device; and determining, by the mobile computing device, that an initial location associated with the path of the mobile computing device is the reference position.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: responsive to determining that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change, activating a positioning system of the mobile computing device, wherein the external signal is a positioning system signal, and wherein the current position of the mobile computing device is determined by the positioning system using the positioning system signal.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: responsive to storing, by the mobile computing device, an indication of the reference position, deactivating, by the mobile computing device, the positioning system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third motion data corresponds to a series of movements of the mobile computing device during a time period occurring from a time at which the mobile computing device determined that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change to a time at which the mobile computing device determined the current position of the mobile computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, by the mobile computing device, an indication of user input to select a previously determined reference position of the one or more of the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions; and outputting, by the mobile computing device and for display, an indication of navigational directions to travel from the updated current position of the mobile computing device of the selected previously determined reference position.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions comprises: determining, by the mobile computing device, one or more locations visited by a user of the mobile computing device at least a threshold number of times; and excluding, based on the one or more locations visited by the user at least a threshold number of times, one or more previously determined reference positions from the plurality of previously determined reference positions.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein: each previously determined reference position of the plurality of previously determined reference positions was determined at a respective time, and determining the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions comprises excluding, by the mobile computing device, based on a difference between a current time and the respective time at which each corresponding previously determined reference position of the plurality of previously determined reference positions was determined, one or more previously determined reference positions from the plurality of previously determined reference positions.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the motion sensor is an accelerometer.

10. A mobile computing device comprising: one or more processors; a motion sensor; a motion module; a parking module; a data repository configured to store a position history of the mobile computing device; and a positioning system, wherein the motion module is configured to determine, based on first motion data generated by the motion sensor of the mobile computing device, that a user associated with the mobile computing device is riding in a vehicle, determine, based on second motion data generated by the motion sensor, that a change in an angle of the mobile computing device relative to gravity satisfies a threshold amount of change, and, responsive to determining that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change: initiate, at a first position of the mobile computing device, storage of third motion data generated by the motion sensor, wherein the first position is a reference position, and determine, based on the third motion data, that the user of the mobile computing device is traveling on foot, wherein the reference position corresponds to a location at which the user exited the vehicle, wherein the positioning system is configured to receive an external signal, determine, based on the external signal, a second position of the mobile computing device, wherein the second position is a current position of the mobile computing device that is different from the reference position, wherein the parking module is operable by the one or more processors to, responsive to determining the second position of the mobile computing device: determine, based on the third motion data and the current position, the reference position of the mobile computing device, and store an indication of the reference position as the location at which the user exited the vehicle, and wherein the parking module is operable by the one or more processors to retrieve the position history from the data repository, the position history including a plurality of previously determined reference positions of the mobile computing device, wherein the reference position of the mobile computing device is included in the plurality of previously determined reference positions, determine a subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions, wherein each determined reference position from the subset is located within a threshold distance from an updated current position of the mobile computing device, and output, for display, a graphical indication of one or more of the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 10 , wherein: the positioning system is configured to determine a current heading of the mobile computing device, and the parking module is operable by the one or more processors to determine, based on the third motion data, a path of the mobile computing device by at least analyzing the third motion data relative to the current position of the mobile computing device and the current heading of the mobile computing device, and determine that an initial location associated with the path of the mobile computing device is the reference position.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors, responsive to the motion module determining that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change, activate the positioning system.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors, responsive to storing an indication of the reference position, deactivate the positioning system.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 10 , wherein the third motion data corresponds to a series of movements of the mobile computing device during a time period occurring from a time at which the mobile computing device determined that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change to a time at which the mobile computing device determined the current position of the mobile computing device.

15. The mobile computing device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors receive an indication of user input to select a previously determined reference position of the one or more of the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions, and output, for display, an indication of navigational directions to travel from the updated current position of the mobile computing device to the selected previously determined reference position.

16. The mobile computing device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors determine one or more locations visited by a user of the mobile computing device at least a threshold number of times, and exclude, based on the one or more locations visited by the user at least a threshold number of times, one or more previously determined reference positions from the plurality of previously determined reference positions.

17. The mobile computing device of claim 10 , wherein: each previously determined reference position of the plurality of previously determined reference positions was determined at a respective time, and the one or more processors determine the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions by at least excluding, based on a difference between a current time and the respective time at which each corresponding previously determined reference position of the plurality of previously determined reference positions was determined, one or more previously determined reference positions from the plurality of previously determined reference positions.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause at least one of a plurality of processors of a mobile computing device to: determine, based on first motion data generated by a motion sensor of the mobile computing device, that a user associated with the mobile computing device is riding in a vehicle; determine, based on second motion data generated by the motion sensor of the mobile computing device, that a change in an angle of the mobile computing device relative to gravity satisfies a threshold amount of change; responsive to determining that the change in the angle satisfies the threshold amount of change: initiate, at a first position of the mobile computing device, storage of third motion data generated by the motion sensor, wherein the first position is a reference position; and determine, based on the third motion data, that the user of the mobile computing device is traveling on foot, wherein the reference position corresponds to a location at which the user exited the vehicle; determine, based on an external signal received by the mobile computing device, a second position of the mobile computing device, wherein the second position is a current position of the mobile computing device that is different from the reference position; responsive to determining the second position of the mobile computing device: determine, based on the third motion data and the current position, the reference position of the mobile computing device; and store and indication of the reference position as the location at which the user exited the vehicle; retrieve a position history of the mobile computing device, the position history including a plurality of previously determined reference positions of the mobile computing device, wherein the reference position of the mobile computing device is included in the plurality of previously determined reference positions; determine a subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions, wherein each determined reference position form the subset is located within a threshold distance from an updated current position of the mobile computing device; and output, for display, a graphical indication of one or more of the subset of the plurality of previously determined reference positions.